Bring Me To Life
by october violet
Summary: Used to be a songfic, but obviously isn't. Some JakKeira. A repost in my new account. Jak gets eco poisoning, so on and so forth...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Naughty Dog owns the characters. Duh.

Jak was running again. He did this often, but now it was different. There was something within him that had changed, snapped. He had been talking to some idiot police officer that wanted him to put up more streetlights to prevent vehicle crashes, and suddenly he became aware that all of the things that people were asking him to do were trivial, and they had nothing whatsoever to do with him. He had fought for the freedom of the city, yes, but it was only to get revenge on Baron Praxis for what he had been put through in the prison. Now, when he simply wanted to be left alone, the people wanted him as their king because he had saved them and because he was the rightful air to the throne.

He had rushed out of the meeting room. The air in there was smothering him with the scent of cheap cleaning supplies. Rage bubbled within him, and he began to run.

Now he was here, in the dead remains of what was once the richest community in the city. East Town was laid to ruin.

He hadgone on for probably ten miles. Because his body was unused to this kind of physical exertion his chest was tight and he struggled for breath. His thighs burned, and his feet in their thin leather shoes ached, but still he was full of energy and ready to run however long it took. Anything to escape the hell that everyone was turning his life into. Samos was always trying to get him to go to Pecker and Onin, because Onin wanted to try some channeling stuff on him. Like anyone would want to go back to that little tent, with the air hot and thick with incense and Pecker smarting off and Onin muttering mystical mumbo-jumbo. Also, Daxter was putting constant pressure on Jak to take the throne of Haven City and become King. Dax said that he only did this because he wanted to see "his sidekick" become great, but Jak (and everyone else) had a suspicion that Dax only wanted Jak as king so that Daxter could be second in command.

Keira was the worst. She wouldn't even acknowledge his presence much less speak with him. If only she could see the pain she put him through, and the burning desire that sprang up in his heart every time he saw her. If only she could know he still loved her with all of his heart.

He heard a crack behind him, and the soft crumbling of a stone wall. He whirled around.

Twelve small, weird-looking Goobers where hopping straight at him. He effortlessly punched them all out, and then turned to resume his running.

Jak felt tiny, sharp pains in his back like red-hot needles jabbing into him. The Dark Eco left from the monsters was gravitating toward him. But this wasn't supposed to happen! When he killed the Metal Head leader, the Precursor Entity had said that the Darkness in Jak's soul was now balanced by Light. Samos had said that the Entity's powers had made it so that Jak couldn't transform anymore, and Samos was never wrong. Was he?

His throat tightened and he slowed his pace, gasping in air as quickly as he could. He felt like dying right there as he stumbled desperately back to the city gate.

Once in the slums, he went to his home, a small, two-room apartment that he rented from a farmer who had moved closer to the agriculture district. Jak barely made it into his main room before he collapsed onto the couch.

On the outside, his body was writhing in spasms, but inside his mind was racing. He could not move, and he felt sure that he was going to die. Samos had been wrong. Jak had not absorbed any Eco for so long that his body was no longer used to it. Therefore he was obviously going into some type of shock from being hit so suddenly by that much Eco. A dozen Goobers gave off a lot, even if they were small.

Then the pain came. At first it was a dull ache, starting at the bottoms of his feet and slowly going upward. It became worse and worse until it felt like his whole body was exploding with the agony of it.

Keira slowly trudged down the road in the slums, kicking smelly trash aside as she went. She was afraid of Jak. When he had first entered her garage and pulled back the green curtain, she had been delighted to see him, a familiar face in a sea of enemies. But he was not really familiar. Not anymore. He was so different from the young boy she loved in Sandover. Now he was angry, vindictive, hateful, and local rumors said that he turned into a terrible monster when he got angry.

But it wasn't his entire fault, she knew. She had taken pleasure in tormenting him. Hadn't she made fun of him, and made him look foolish in front of Errol? And, as much as she denied it and lied to herself, she had never really tried to find him. Not after she met Errol.

But now he refused to look at her. When they had to be in the same room together, he look right through her, and he would always get out of there as quickly as possible.

She had once loved him, long ago, and she had given him her whole heart. But now she wasn't sure she had feelings for him at all. And she was certain he didn't care about her. Look at how he treated her.

She wouldn't have even been doing what she was doing right now if her father hadn't insisted that she carry a message to Jak. She had a feeling that Samos just wanted to force them to speak to each other, because if he really wanted to give Jak a message he could have just used the communicator.

Keira turned up Jak's street. How strange. The door was open a crack and his Morph Gun was lying haphazardly on the street near the door.

"That's weird," she muttered, picking up the gun. Then she heard the sounds issuing from the house. It was a horrible type of screaming; long, and airless.

She knew that it was Jak. She had heard him scream before, once, about five years ago, before he and Daxter had gone to Misty Island. Jak had fallen off the dock, and his foot had gotten caught on a piece of wood. It nearly tore his toe off.

But this time it was different. She didn't know quite how, but something here was much worse. She ran into the main room, following his screams, then stopped in horror at what she saw.

He was on the floor, in torment, writhing and still screaming that awful scream. He lay in a pool of vomit streaked with blood. His eyes were rolling in their sockets as he lay, racked by an aura of darkness that surrounded him.

Keira stifled a cry as all of her years of experience with Eco kicked in. He had to have some health restoration somewhere here.

He screamed again, and Keira trembled and paused in her search. She looked over at him, and for once all her fear and hatred toward him melted away. She had been so selfish, to think of only herself and never realize how much he too had suffered in the years that they were apart. He had had it much worse than her, and she still had dismissed him as someone who never bothered to speak to her. Maybe he couldn't. Maybe it simply pained him too much.

She began to look again for health restoration, this time with more vigor. At last she found a small container of green Eco in the other room. She came back in and was afraid again. He had transformed. His eyes were black, cold, and awful. His skin was pallid, and he was still screaming although he had stopped rolling around. She knelt next to him.

From far away Jak could see a blurry image of her, as if he were seeing her from underwater. He reached for her; she was the only one who could help him...

She screamed, and blood flowed out of her arm as his razor-sharp, claw-like fingernails raked her skin. "Jak," she whispered, pouring the substance onto his body, "Come back."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own the characters. When I do, I'll let you know.

Keira was weeping in hopelessness as she sat near Jak's limp body. Her eyes were red, and her face was tearstreaked.After the Eco had worn off, he was back to his normal form but had gone unconscious immediately. He had been like this for nearly ten minutes.

As for Keira, she could barely move. The energy it had taken to heal Jak had been drained from her own body, so she was nearly paralyzed and she ached with exhaustion. She had called the emergency medical squad several minutes ago, and they had promised to have a crew there within a quarter of an hour. She had contacted her father as well, but he was out somewhere and would probably not be back for a while.

As she sat, she pondered what had happened. Jak was obviously in some sort of shock, and that had caused him to transform. But why was he unconscious? There was no more Green Eco, or else she would have tried to revive him and have him explain to her exactly what he had been doing that would cause this to happen. But that was only wishful thinking.

Minutes ticked by, and still she sat there. The paramedics should have been there by now. She had heard that they were unreliable, but this was ridiculous. Jak could be dying. As a matter of fact, so could she. Who knew if they would ever come? In a couple of days they would be dead, and someone would find their bodies, and they would... She shuddered at the very thought and tried to concentrate on something other that death. It was difficult since Jak was right in front of her and how much he looked like death itself scared her.

There was an icy draft blowing in through the partially open door, and Keira shivered violently. She looked out through the doorway. The people of Haven City hurried past Jak's home. A few of them glanced curiously, probably wondering why the door was open on such a cold day, but no one stopped to actually find out. The people of Haven had spent nearly twenty years under the tyranny of Baron Praxis. They had learned to work hard, eat little, and above all blend into the crowd. That way there was less chance of being singled out for cruel and unfair punishment, or the worst: being put in the dreaded Fortress Prison, where no one who went in ever came out.

Keira herself had learned these guidelines, but as her status as a mechanic and racer rose, she had less to worry about. The Krimzon Guard was less likely to pick on the people of the higher classes. They wanted people who were too far down on the social ladder to be missed by anyone except their immediate family. They didn't want anyone to interfere with their selection of innocent citizens that they placed in the prison. Keira had suspicions now that Errol had been telling the truth when he told her about the Fortress and what went on in there. He hadmentioned the brutal torture and genetic experimentation that went on there.

Keira had convinced herself that he was joking. After all, no one in their right mind would do something so horrible to another person.

The law would put a stop to it. Now she realized, with a sinking feeling, that the Krimzon Guard was the law, and Errol was a sociopath who didn't care how much pain he inflicted upon people and their families. And to think what she had done for him. All of the sacrifices she had made, all of the things she had hoped for, were laid to waste because of Errol. She and Jak could never be together because of what she had done to Jak. I thought he was dead, she tried to reason with herself. How was I to know that I would ever see him again? But the other part of her mind argued, you still loved him, and you cared for him, and then you threw it all away.

"I didn't mean to, Jak!" she sobbed to his motionless form. "I'm sorry. I ruined everything. We could have had a future, and my actions snatched that away." She slumped over in fatigue and submitted to the blackness in her head.

Keira awoke to a loud sound. She looked around wildly. The noise was a door. The front door had slammed shut, but too late. The room was already freezing. She sat up and stretched. Her energy level was somewhat restored, and she looked over at Jak. He was still unconscious, but his breathing was more even and he looked peaceful. Keira grabbed the communicator where she had dropped it on the floor. She called the medic squad again.

"I'm still here and the guy is still unconscious! This is the heir to the throne of Haven City and if he dies everyone will hold you responsible!" "Ok, ok, chill out," the guy on the other end of the line said. He hung up.

Next Keira called her father. Samos was still out somewhere, presumably to Haven Forest where he liked to study the Great Tree. "Gosh, Dad, why do you have to be gone when I need you most!" Keira cried aloud. She slumped down onto the lumpy green sofa to wait for the paramedics. She couldn't bring herself to look at Jak. It was too painful. It reminded her of all they could have had together if she had only thought before doing what she had done.

"Jak," she whispered. "I'm only telling you this now because you can't hear me. There is something that I have to tell you. I can't bring myself to tell you all of it, but I will say this. I still love you, and today has made me realize exactly how much I do. But even if you care about me like you once did, we can never be together. I have done something to you that can never be erase. I was unfaithful to you, and I am going to forever remember it and be tortured by it. So it is time for both of us to let go." She knew she was talking to his unconscious form, but she couldn't help herself, as she felt the words had tumbled out of her mouth.There was a loud knock at the door, but before Keira could answer it, it opened.

It was the paramedics. "Finally," Keira breathed. She explained briefly to them what had happened to Jak, and then they asked her to go outside while they looked him over. Reluctantly Keira stepped outside, and she sat near the door. On the other side of her was a burning barrel of trash. The heat from it blistered her arm right were Dark Jak's claws had raked her skin, but she did her best to ignore the searing pain as she sat. She vowed not to move from there until they came out with Jak.

It was getting dark and colder as late afternoon wore on. Keira could hear nothing from inside the house, no clues as to how long it would be until they could get Jak to the hospital. At least there she would know that he was going to survive. Here, she had her doubts as to whether or not these people were qualified medics, since it had taken two calls and a long amount of time to get them to come down here in the first place.The fire in the barrel had long since gone out: someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on it. Most of the water had splashed onto Keira's shivering form, but she scarcely noticed it. It was nothing compared to what she had endured when she lived on the streets in her first month is Haven City. Then she had been cold and wet all of the time, and since no one knew her, she couldn't even find a doorway to sleep in.

Just then the heavy front door opened, and three men came out, carrying Jak on a stretcher. Keira tried to ask one of them what was the matter with him, but none of them would tell her. All they said were, "Would you like to ride with him in the ambulance?" Keira shook her head. She couldn't be that close to him again. It would tear her apart. "I'll walk to the hospital and see him. It's not far." They both knew that it was across the city from there and that Keira was lying, but he ignored it and she walked away. The hospital was several miles away, and Keira ran there as fast as she could.

When she arrived, the nurse in the front informed her that he was in room 117 and that he was awake and just fine. Keira thanked the woman, than headed down to his room. But now, even though she had gone as quickly as she could to the hospital, she slowed down. She didn't know what she was supposed to say to him now that he was awake. She had had no trouble speaking when he was unconscious, but now...

She finally reached room 117. Jak was in the bed, propped up by numerous pillows. There were bandages on his body were he had scratched himself, but otherwise he appeared to be in fairly good shape. He looked up when she entered, and appeared to be surprised to see her.

"Hello," he said mildly.

"Hey," she muttered, studying in the green tile floor. He motioned to the folding chair propped against the wall.

"Sit down," he urged. Following his orders, she silently unfolded the chair and sat down near the bed.

"What did they say was wrong with you?" she asked. She realized that this was the first time in months they had had a conversation that didn't consist of a few clipped, icy words. He smiled. He has a nice smile, Keira thought. The expression looked foreign on his face, as it had been years since she'd seen him smile.

"Nothing," he said. "The Eco from the monsters was too much for me. My immunity to it was wearing away. I went into shock. When you gave me the health restoration, it may very well have saved my life. The doctors gave me something to get me out of the shock, and I'm fine now. As a matter of fact I'm being discharged tonight."

"Oh," Keira said. As she studied his face, he took on a serious expression. "I was paralyzed and weak, but I wasn't unconscious. I could hear every word that you said." Those words were the words that Keira had been least expecting to hear.

"Oh..." she murmured, looking at the floor again.

"Keira..." he whispered. "Look at me. Please." She couldn't bear to look him in the face. It was physically and mentally too much for her as she sat limply in her chair. But then she felt his fingers under her chin, lifting her face toward his. Without thinking she grabbed his hand and clutched it tightly. "What did you mean?" he asked gently. She shook her head.

"I can't tell you. I can't ever tell you. It would be better for me to just never see you again."

"Keira, whatever it is that happened to you, you can tell me. I'm not going to condemn you... I just want to know," he said.

"You do deserve to know, but I can't bear it. Talking about it will be like living through everything again, and I can't do that. I'm sorry." She lowered her eyes. She felt awful for not telling him the truth, but she was sure that he would be furious if she ever revealed to him what she had done."

"You can tell me. You must," he murmured. "If you don't we'll both be in pain over it forever."

"You won't," Keira said. "You have a life in this horrible city. You have a future here, a future as the greatest king these poor people have ever seen and ever will see. You could just forget about me in all the confusion up at the Palace, and we'd both be happier that way."

"Would you really?" he said. "I wouldn't. I would always wonder how I lost you, and what had happened that caused that." Those words touched her heart like none ever had before.

"I'll tell you," she said. "But you'll hate me forever."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Yeah, you know the deal, I own not-a-thing.

Keira leaned back in the cold metal folding chair and started to speak.

"The first month I was in Haven, I lived in the slums. I didn't know where I was. The first night, I slept in an alley. It rained cold torrents, and rats crawled across my feet. I thought that I had died in the rift and gone to hell."

"Mostly I wandered around. I got food where I could, but since Haven City has such a large number of homeless, even rotting food in trashcans was scarce. I managed to stay alive, though, and since it was getting warmer every day I figured I could try and get a job, then save up enough money to rent a place before winter came."

"I tried a lot of places all over the slums and port, but no one would hire me because I had no address, no resume, and no other job records. I was starving and one day I found a wallet on the road. There was no money in it, but I found a security pass to get into the industrial section and the stadium area."

She had wandered around the industrial section, working out gradually where everything was. The only place that she dared not go near was the

stadium, because once she had tried to go there and had been chased away by the Krimzon Guards.

But finally, when she walked by there one morning, there were no Guards and she walked freely into the area.

She beheld the huge building in awe, looking up at the high-tiered ceiling. She couldn't get inside it, though, because there was a force gate blocking the public from going in. There really was not much to do there, but tall bushes that she figured might be good to sleep in surrounded the high stone walls around the area.

She noticed a man near one of the entrances to the stadium. He was attempting to fix a near-totaled racing zoomer. Keira could tell from as far away as she was that he was not a very good mechanic. All he was succeeding to do was make a shower of sparks fly. He stormed into the Stadium, swearing loudly.

Keira walked over to the zoomer. What the man had been struggling with was the brake, and she saw immediately what was wrong. This zoomer was almost the same type as the ones she worked on in Sandover. She fixed it with a few deft movements and turned to leave. She didn't know this man, but she was compelled to help him. It had been so long since she had been able to fix any machine, and as it was what she loved to do she would take any chances to do it.

She watched for a while, but the man did not come back out. At last, as the sky grew dark, she went into a bush to spend the night there.

Keira slept in the Stadium bushes for several nights. No one ever came near where she had made her humble home, and she dared not leave the area for too long because the Guards were nearly always there and she had to stay out of their way. So aside from finding (and occasionally stealing) food, she kept to herself. She didn't know how she would ever survive in this place without a job, but she tried not to let that consume her thoughts, and she tried to simple concentrate on surviving from day to day.

One day, however, she returned to her shelter in the bush only to find it ransacked. Everything was gone, down to the rags that she slept on. Some one had taken it all.

There was nothing left to live for. Keira sat there on the grass and wept bitterly, not caring about the staring eyes of those who were in this part of town.

Someone sat down beside her, but she ignored the person. He continued to stay there until at last she looked up toward him.

There sat the man whose zoomer she had fixed several days ago. Keira wondered, briefly, why he was sitting there, but otherwise she sat dumbly. This loss of a home, the little that she had gained in this place, had broken her spirit.

She could see him through the corner of her eyes. He had vivid orange hair, and he wore yellow and red armor. No matter how hard she looked at him, she could find no trace of warmth in his hard features, no shred of compassion in his cold blue eyes.

At last she turned to him. "What do you want?"

"I saw who took your stuff," he said. "It was a Krimzon Guard."

"Yeah, one of the protectors," Keira said. "I've seen them in action before in the slums."

"Well, they technically aren't supposed to steal from the people, but it's a rule that is often ignored," he remarked.

She glared at him. How dare he speak so lightly of the suffering of the innocent people? "They take from the slums all that they can, when those people already have so little," she said accusingly.

He shrugged. "It's one of the perks of the job."

Sicko, Keira thought. You probably stole my stuff, you bastard.

Looking uncomfortable, he changed the subject. "What I want is to offer you a job."

She looked up quickly, narrowing her eyes at what she thought he meant. "Hey, I'm not-" she began, was quickly cut off.

"No, that's not what I mean," he said hastily. "I mean a job as a

mechanic. I know it was you that fixed my racer the other day, and you did a damn good job of it too. I have a racing team. I'm city champion, and I need a good mechanic for my zoomers."

He went on to describe the pay, and job requirements, and how the job included a small apartment above the mechanic garage. He obviously seemed quite sure that she planned to take the job. This one's used to having his own way, she thought. But he was right. She planned to take a job. She didn't care that she would be working for a man she knew nothing about. A few months before, she would have laughed if someone said she was doing this, especially in a dangerous city like this. But no matter what would happen to her in the future, she needed money now.

She listened halfheartedly as he continued his job description. He seemed awfully sure of himself. How did he really know that she had fixed his machine? He hadn't seen it himself. There was just something about the situation that gave her the creeps, and the heart of it lay, she was sure, in his cold eyes.

She looked at him. "I'll take your job offer," she said gravely.

He smiled a creepy smile. "Glad to hear it."

Keira followed him into the stadium, down a hall, and into an office filled with parts for racing bikes, piles of papers that looked like contracts, and dirty dishes. He fished around in a drawer for a moment or two, then held up what he was looking for: a document stating the terms of agreement for the job. "Just sign here," he said, "and it'll all be legal."

"I want to see the apartment first," Keira said.

"Okay. Well then, follow me," he muttered.

The apartment was small, with three rooms. The furniture and appliances were provided, and all in all it was fairly nice. It was heaven compared to the streets.

Back at the office, Keira signed the contract with a shaking hand. Briefly, she wondered whether she was signing her soul over to this man. It was a fleeting thought and she dismissed it as a product of her sometimes-overactive imagination.

Keira began her work the next day. With a week's salary in advance she had been able to buy bread and milk, things she hadn't had since she was back in Sandover Village.

Months passed, and nothing much happened. Her work became routine: She did a tune-up on the hoverbikes before races, repaired any damage afterward, and did general mechanic work for anyone who needed it. There was only one thing that changed for her, and always was changing: Her relationship with Errol. Though she had first deemed him self-centered and rude, she began to notice him in a different light, one of awe at his racing skills.

He would come to the area when he had the spare time, and flirt with her and talk to her. They had a relationship that was not strong enough to stand the test of time, but enough to keep her on her feet for the time being and to hold her up when she was thinking about Jak, Daxter, and her father, all of whom she feared that she would never see again.

One day she was in her apartment and Errol came in. He never knocked on the door, just barged in. He slumped down in a chair. "Bad day?" Keira asked.

"Found the body of a guy in the port. He had half a zoomer propeller sticking out of his head. We think it was an accident," he said.

Keira shuddered and choked on her coffee. "How horrible."

He shrugged. "It was kind of weird. The guy was about your age, ad he had weird old-looking clothes and bright yellow hair. It's rare to see hair that color. Back a while ago, yeah, it was common, but now. I guess as soon as the metal heads began to hunt our race and everyone had to dye their hair to be camouflaged, we just adapted. Weird to think about."

Keira made herself answer him, and she kept up the conversation without having any knowledge of what she was saying. Her insides and her brain felt frozen, all concentrated on one word. Jak. He had yellow hair. No one else in this future world did. He was dead.

Though she had prepared herself for so long, almost a year, to face thetruth, when it hit her at last it took her breath away and made her quiver with pain. He was gone now. She would never again see him, never again be in his arms, in the one place where she felt truly happy. She would never speak to him, or feel the caress of his lips upon hers, drawing her closer to him.

With these thoughts, Keira collapsed onto her bed and wept for what she was sure she would never again have: love.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Keira stared out the window at the children that ran up and down the  
crowded city street. Since she lived in the Industrial Section parents could leave their kids outside unattended without fear of gang violence or brutal attacks from Krimzon Guards. Keira watched as a little girl came out of the door in front of one apartment, accompanied by an older boy that she guessed to be the girl's brother. The boy ran off quickly to join a group of friends, leaving the girl standing in the street sucking her thumb. A large stray dog came up to her, and she screamed in terror. A few older boys came nearer to her, but far from helping her they laughed as she screamed for her brother. He was too far to hear her.

That's like me, Keira realized. This hell of a city has got me in its jaws like an ugly old dog, and no matter how loud I scream no one can hear and come to my rescue. Especially not Jak.

This did little to draw her from the depression that had hung over her like a heavy rain cloud ever since she found out about Jak's death three days ago.

It was a nice day that day, but that did not matter to the people that were in the long funeral procession that paraded through South Town to the public burial grounds. These many people were mourning the death of Kassim Ridilee, an eighteen-year-old actor who was known for his brilliant dyed-yellow hair, who had perished in a freak accident in the port three days ago.

Keira was rapidly giving in to the despair that had wrapped itself around her heart in the last few days. She felt it in her very bones. She knew that something must happen today, or... she would fall.

It had been five days now, long enough for her to think about her pain all she had too. She had missed still more work, and she feared her job was in peril. But she didn't care anymore. How ironic for her to die here, in the hustle and bustle of the city, when so had Jak been crushed by an oncoming zoomer.

She needed a savior, someone to sweep her off her feet and out of the anguish that she had been sucked into. She tried to think positively; really, she did. But it seemed all she could do to get out of bed in the morning. Only one could be her savior: Jak. But he too had fallen, and she had not been there with him.

There was a loud banging on the door. Keira knew it was Errol. Only he banged so loudly and kicked at the door when she did not answer. Other than him, no one ever came to the door. "Damn it, Keira!" he screamed through the door. "I know you're in there! What's wrong? I want to help you!"

Help me? Keira thought vaguely. No one can. For some reason the thought seemed wildly funny to her. She let a giggle escape her lips. It sounded a bit like a sob to Errol as he stood out in the hallway, but he could not hear if she said anything else because just then a woman stuck her head out of the door down the hall and told him to keep it down because her baby was sleeping.

Errol sighed and eased open the door. It wasn't locked, he noticed, and she always kept it locked. He stepped in and was surprised at what he saw.

She didn't even look at him, just kept staring out the window at the street. As she watched, a bunch of Krimzon Guards ran down the street, scattering the crowds of kids at play. Errol strode over to her and made her look at him.

Her azure eyes were full of anguish and terror. He had never seen her like this, and wondered briefly whether or not she was drunk.

Her face was pale and tear streaked, her eyes red-rimmed. Her clothes hung loosely on her emancipated frame. Unsteadily, she stood up. "Are you sick?" Errol asked. He wanted to get out of there if she was.

She shook her head, but inside she was thinking, Can't you see? Heartsick. With a slight groan she laid her head on his chest, listening to the beating of his heart and wondering if he really cared or not.

He placed his arms around her. She knew he cared. "I'll be ok. Just go away awhile. I'll be at work tomorrow." Secretly she had absolutely no intention of showing up for work the next day, but it might make him leave.

It didn't. He lingered at the door as she tried to just make him go away. "You need something to take your mind off whatever's bothering you. Let's go out to dinner."

Without waiting for her too accept or decline, he pressed on with the details of where they would go and at what time, ending with, "I'll pick you up at 7:30," before he rushed out the door.

Keira sagged against the wall. So much for being left here alone to die. Now she would have to get ready to go somewhere tonight, and put on an act for Errol to make him think that everything was all right and she had just been having a bad day.

"Did you think the restaurant was ok?" Errol asked her later that night.

"Yes, it was fine. Thank you very much." Keira was distant now. The entire night in the restaurant, she had put on a big act for him, but now she didn't want to hide it from him. She wanted him to know how she felt, and she was certain that he wanted to know.

They were walking in the agricultural district. Errol had complained that he didn't like that part of town. He had said it was too dirty. Keira, however, insisted. She had loved the trees and plants that had surrounded her house back in Sandover Village, and she missed them dearly. This part of town was the closest she could that in Haven City, where so much of the city was cold, false, dull metal.

Keira let out a sigh as she thought of her old world, one where she knew where she was and felt comfortable. Errol took this as a sign that she wanted to talk. "What's the matter?" he asked.

She wanted him to know how she felt, although before today she hadwanted to hide it. All of a sudden Keira felt the brick wall that she had been building higher and higher for the past year crumble to dust. There were some parts of her story she couldn't say, but most she had to say. "I just feel so alone."

Errol smiled to himself. This was what he had been waiting for. He had been ready to give up on Keira; she was taking too long to spill out her secrets to him. But now... this would be his victory. She would fall prey to him just as the others had. "You're never alone. I'm always with you." He felt a strange power as he said those words. He knew that he had just crossed a line, and there was no going back now.

"I don't know what I'd do without you. You see, I can't remember what happened to me before I began living near the stadium. You saved my life, and I owe it all to you." She hugged him, and this time he didn't flinch as he usually did, even though she was smearing tears on the front of his jacket. She didn't feel comfortable telling him about Jak. That was her thought and hers alone, and she planned to hold it to her the rest of her life.

"It'll be okay, Keira. I don't know what happened to you before, but now we can start a whole new life. Forget that old one. We can be together," Errol murmured, stroking her shiny green hair.

Keira believed him. Now all she wanted to do was be able to talk to him like she used to talk to Jak, where she could say anything and he could say anything and neither thought badly of the other. She wanted to talk to him the way she hadn't talked to anyone for so long it seemed like forever.

Though her heart told her that she wanted to talk and not make out, her head turned upwards to meet Errol in a fiery kiss. That sealed Errol's victory. He looked into her eyes and mistook the mixture of new hope and lingering despair to be passion.

That night, behind a stand of trees in the "dirty" section of the city, Keira put to death a lifetime of conviction, and shattered all of her past with Jak, every painful piece. And Errol had what he wanted.

"That's it," Keira whispered. She watched Jak's face for any emotion and saw none. "You know what happened after that. I got my own team and stopped working for Errol, and when I saw you and Daxter for the first time it pained me more than words could say. I had been unfaithful, and you... you were still there. Then I got so guilty, I couldn't help but be nasty to you in hopes that you would go away.

When I heard what happened to you in prison, I just about died knowing that you were being tortured while I was putting out for... him."

His face was wooden. "Oh," he said faintly. This was quite a shock, the whole thing... first his medical condition, then Keira's sudden breakdown... "Why do you think... Why didn't you realize that I would forgive you?"

Her eyes widened. "You were so angry." It was the simplest answer she could come up with. "I didn't think you would. But now you do?"

"Yes," he said. "Up until today, I didn't think that I cared for you anymore, but now your story made me realize that I do, and when you love someone like I once loved you, like I still love you, then... you forgive them when they make mistakes."

Nothing else he could have said would have mad her feel better than that. But still her heart was heavy. "I don't deserve it though. It was all my fault."

"Damn it, Keira!" he exclaimed. "It was not your fault! It was Errol. He was a sneaking, lying bastard, he seduced you and many other girls."

"I know." She couldn't speak any more. Even as she sat she wondered why she had ever begun to tell him this. She was a practical woman, always had tried to be strong. She tried to keep herself out of situations like this where she felt vulnerable, where she would be forced to reveal her feelings.

"I love you, Keira. You may not believe me but I swear, I do." There was nothing more to say. The rest was up to her.

Keira merely stared out the window at the raindrops that splattered on the glass.


End file.
